The Ice Phantom listened to Benjamin's account without reacting.
Although she sympathized with his plight, it was not the time to comfort him; she had more important things to do.
After a moment of thought, Gwen pressed on, "Do you have all your memories from your time as a Talon?"
Benjamin nodded hastily, a hint of unease in his eyes, "I remember. Although those actions were not under my control, I remember everything that happened very clearly."
He hesitated, then added, "However, as I said earlier, we were frozen when there were no missions. In that state, the body loses consciousness, so I have no memory of what happened during the time I was frozen."
The Ice Phantom nodded gently upon hearing this and continued to ask, "Then, during your time as a Talon, did you recognize any Court of Owls members? Or which member exactly sent you here?"
Hearing this question, Benjamin's face showed some embarrassment.
He lowered his head slightly, his voice full of helplessness, "I was just a small fry executing missions. Those dog (friendly and harmonious) members always wore masks when giving orders. I just listened to the orders, went to kill people, and then came back to be frozen. I had no idea who those members really were."
At this point, Benjamin's voice carried a hint of gritted teeth.
The Ice Phantom raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Well, it seems there's some personal grudge.
This resentment is even stronger than a 996 worker's.
Oh, right. These Talons could be considered 007s, and the kind that don't even get paid.
But speaking of this, Benjamin suddenly looked as if he remembered something and abruptly looked up, his eyes filled with terror, "Oh no! Miss Wayne! I have a tracker on me, all Talons do! They could track me down at any moment!"
The Ice Phantom glanced at the owl-shaped ice sculptures nearby, "They've actually already found us... Never mind, where's the tracker?"
"It's... it's in a tooth, but I don't know which one specifically. I was unconscious during the surgery."
The Ice Phantom didn't respond. Her ceremonial robe suddenly unfurled, transforming into huge, moth-like wings.
At the same time, the Omnitrix symbol on her chest was revealed.
Previously, the Omnitrix symbol was black and white during transformations.
Unlike before calibration, the white part of the Omnitrix symbol was now completely replaced by purple.
The Ice Phantom extended her Talon and gently touched the mysterious symbol on her chest.
In an instant, a dazzling purple light flashed, illuminating the entire room.
Benjamin's eyes were temporarily closed by the stimulating light. When the light dissipated, he opened his eyes again to look at the opposite side, but he couldn't help but be stunned.
Once he confirmed that what was in front of him was not a virtual projection, he widened his eyes, his face filled with incredulous surprise.
The Ice Phantom had disappeared, replaced by something like a lump of mud.
No, this was definitely not ordinary mud.
Under Benjamin's gaze, she stood up.
This entity was predominantly black, its surface covered with green, circuit board-like patterns. The eerie patterns constantly flickered and changed, as if alive.
And at its very top was a purple circle.
This purple circle, like the entity's eye, blinked back at Benjamin. Then, before Benjamin's surprised, wide-open mouth could react, this lump of a thing suddenly poured into his mouth.
Benjamin was terrified. He widened his eyes, wanting to struggle but was bound tightly, only able to watch as the strange thing invaded his mouth, his heart filled with fear and helplessness.
He only felt a huge, tasteless piece of mochi being forcibly stuffed into his mouth.
The thing wriggled freely in his oral cavity, making Benjamin feel uncomfortable wherever it went.
Benjamin instinctively wanted to gag, but very suddenly, the huge mochi in his mouth disappeared.
The thing that had filled his entire mouth suddenly vanished, and Benjamin almost bit his own tongue.
Just as he was gasping for air, a piercing pain came from deep within his oral cavity, as if a tooth was being forcibly pulled out by an invisible force.
He instinctively reached to touch the tooth, only then remembering that his hands and feet were tied to the restraint bed.
At this moment, he felt the pain in his mouth intensify, and then he felt his gum loosen; a tooth must have been pulled out.
He was sweating from the pain. Just then, a small object dropped from his mouth with a 'plop,' making a faint sound on the ground.
Benjamin subconsciously looked down, wanting to see what it was.
When he saw what the small object looked like, his mind went blank, filled with confusion.
He probably guessed what this thing was—just a tooth.
But why did this tooth look like this???
The tooth on the ground was completely black, its surface covered with eerie green circuits.
But what truly made one feel bewildered was that the bottom of this tooth actually had a pair of mechanical legs.
This was a tooth with legs.
However, before Benjamin could wrap his head around it, he saw a large amount of the previously seen gelatinous substance suddenly surge from the tooth's surface, rolling and spreading like boiling asphalt.
The black quickly receded, and the gelatinous substance continuously reshaped and deformed. In the blink of an eye, a humanoid creature, predominantly black with white accents and interwoven with green circuit-like patterns, appeared before Benjamin.
This humanoid creature stood there, its massive size making Benjamin, whose hands were tied, feel somewhat uneasy.
But the creature completely ignored him, instead examining the tooth in its hand.
Gently turning the tooth, on the inner side of the gum area, a tiny symbol was carved.
It was an owl with wings poised for flight. Even carved on such a tiny tooth, it still appeared exquisite, the texture of its feathers and its sharp gaze vividly portrayed, as if it would truly spread its wings and soar, hunting the annoying Bat in the night sky, in the next second.
Suddenly, a clear, tender voice, perfectly matching an 8-year-old girl, came from the direction of this humanoid creature, "It's quite amazing. The outside of this tooth looks exactly like a normal tooth, even the gum part seems to have grown naturally, but inside it hides an electronic tracker, and this symbol."
And as the 8-year-old girl's voice sounded, the purple circle on the creature's face flickered.
Benjamin's face was full of disbelief. After a slight pause, he tentatively asked, "Miss Wayne??"
Gwen didn't have time for him at the moment. She suspected that some members of the Court of Owls were dentists.
Indeed, U.S. dentists earn quite a lot. Maybe someone really did become a member of the Court of Owls by being a dentist.
However, Gwen quickly dismissed this idea.
Based on her understanding of the Court of Owls, she felt it was more likely that, like the Talons, these people were lured by promises of high office and generous salaries, then beaten with whips and forced to serve the Court.
Pay? What pay?
If you don't work hard, I'll beat you to death!
However, thinking of this, Gwen realized she seemed to have forgotten something.
"Goop!"
Looking at the strange creature that suddenly introduced itself, Benjamin felt his head full of question marks.